Daily Times

ZURICH: Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif has reached Switzerland to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), beginning in Davos from Tuesday.

Apart from addressing the forum, the PM will hold a number of meetings with the heads of State, government, and business leaders.

Accompanied by Begum Kulsoom Nawaz and Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi, Nawaz was received at the Zurich International by Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Mission to Geneva Tehmina Janjua and senior Swiss officials.

Nawaz Sharif received a special invitation of the WEF’s Executive Chairman Professor Klaus Schwab. He was called to pursue his dynamic economic agenda aimed at turning around the national economy.

The PM will be presenting Pakistan’s case of economic success and the ideal business and investment opportunities, besides attracting foreign direct investment. He will be utilizing the visit for the betterment of Pakistan’s economic and business interests by inviting leading firms to invest in Pakistan.

The theme for this year’s meeting is ‘Responsive and Responsible Leadership’, which would focus on four critical leadership challenges for 2017 – revitalising the global economy, reforming capitalism and preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Around 3,000 leaders from the government, business and civil society will gather at the 47th World Economic Forum Annual meeting, from January 17-20 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.

Nawaz will also have a meeting with WEF Chairman Prof Klaus Schwab. Bilateral meetings are expected with the Prime Ministers of Sweden, Norway and Sri Lanka, besides a meeting with Queen Maxima of Netherlands.

He will meet the new Secretary General United Nations Antonio Guterres, as well as the Swiss President Doris Leuthard. The Foreign Office in a statement said the Prime Minister will address a large group of about 60 top business leaders on “Investing in Pakistan: The New Reality”.

He will have a round table meeting, in which he would share the significant economic changes taking place in Pakistan and the immense investment and trade opportunities opening up in the country. President Xi Jinping of China will open the annual meeting. He will be accompanied by the largest delegation of Chinese officials.

The co-chairs taking a principal role in shaping the discussion at the Annual Meeting 2017 are, Bank of America (USA) Chairman of Board and Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan; documentary filmmaker, SOC Films (Pakistan) Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, Save the Children International (United Kingdom) Chief Executive Officer Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Royal Philips (Netherlands) President and Chief Executive Officer Frans van Houten, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (USA) President and Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman.

Pakistan Information Technology and Telecommunication Minister Anusha Rahman Khan will also speak at the forum. National Health Services Minister Saira Afzal Tarar will speak on “Raising Life Expectancy and Expectations.”